Paris: Le Bar a Huitres

One thing I really wanted to do in Paris was sit & have some oysters with my Workaholic. I had our getaway planned and oysters were scheduled for the first night. I booked a table at Le Bar a Huitres near the Bastille. We got out at the exact opposite metro exit, walked around the Bastille and found men shucking oysters on the street. That's how I knew that we were in the right spot.

We ordered a giant platter which had 2 different kinds of oysters, mussels, clams, cockles, periwinkles, prawn and North Sea shrimp, as well as a crab. I satisfied my craving for oysters while we drank a bottle of Pouilly-Fuissé (a white wine from Bourgogne). We sat, shelled our crab, drank wine and let the hours pass. I found it was the perfect way to introduce the Paris to the workaholic.

Le Bar a Huitres has 4 locations. If you're in Paris and craving oysters, maybe there'll be one close to you.

Paris: L'Argume

L'Argume is a little out of the way but it offers food that encourages you to make the journey. I called the day before our arrival, shortly after our plans had been ironed out, in the naive hope that maybe there might possibly be a table for 2 free on a Saturday night. A table on a Saturday in a restaurant that seats 30 and serves 5 course meals for under €50/person. An amusing thought. Well, instead of asking if they have anything available for lunch, we went down to see for ourselves. Everything was booked but we got one of the bar tables at the front. What awaited us? The most friendly service, explaining every aspect of the menu. We decided that the lunch sampler was our best bet, enabling us to try all 3 starters and 1 main each.

Starters:
ham, belgian endive salad with apple and a mustard vinaigrette. In all honesty, this simple dish stole the show as the vinaigrette pulled everything seamlessly together
salmon tartare with lime juice. I was hesitant with this one as I have never had good experiences with salmon but it was beautiful. Oily fish in the tart lime juice with nothing but a mild olive oil, a hint of parsley and fleur de sel.
spider crab soup. All parts of the crab were used and so there was a mild bitter note at the end. Nonetheless, a nice sample.

Mains:
braised beef cheeks. Done to perfection with a bit of jus and a hint of pepper.
red mullet. Again, very good.
sides: carrots and onions. They were not falling apart but they were a little overdone for our liking.

Desert:
gorgonzola with arugula and apples.
warm cherry soup with rosemary and a scoop of raspberry ice cream. Both were a delight.

Having a good meal in Paris is easy if you're willing to spend loads of money. For me, the challenge was having an amazing meal for under 90€ a person. This was easily achieved at L'Argume. The food and the staff and the friendliness of everyone in the restaurant on this particular Saturday made this a meal to remember.

L'As Du Fallafel, Paris

What makes a good sandwich? I believe it to be a combination of personal attachments, the contents, and the environment. Personal attachments might be an odd criterion for some people, but think of the popularity of peanut butter & jam; for most people it is a memory that brings us back to a certain time. My personal attachments to falafel sandwiches go back decades as my sister would sometimes bring me one when she picked me up after school. For me, L'As Du Falafel automatically has this one point in its favour.

The contents of a the falafel sandwich are good - good falafel balls that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They are not in the least bit dry. More importantly, they have a reputation of consistently good falafel balls. The pita was soft; the pickled cabbages were also of good quality and quite delicious on their own. What really made the sandwich for me was the addition of 2 slices of marinated eggplant; enough for an eggplant lover, yet not obtrusive for those who hate the vegetable (at our tasting, there was 1 of each). Also, the sauces were good.

Ordering a falafel at L'As Du Fallafel is no mean feat. Many people get the €2 discount by ordering it at the counter & eating their sandwich, which comes with a plastic fork, on the street. This involves patience as well as a strict adherence to procedure. We went inside, and were treated fairly well for such a busy sandwich bar. The place is busy, it's loud and it seems as though the staff move in fast-forward.

The three components of L'As du Fallafel are firmly in place. However, when we bit into our sandwiches, we expected the "Wow, that's a sandwich!" moment. This moment never really came. It was a good sandwich, beyond a doubt, but it suffers under one additional element: hype and expectation. There's not a sandwich in the world that can live up to the expectation of being the best sandwich in the world.